The Buddha described four levels of meditative states that are known as “jhanas.” These are not to be taken as mind states to achieve. The jhanas are simply an explanation of different levels of concentration. Much is made in the commentaries regarding the importance of achieving these states and the intense effort needed to reach the more “advanced” levels. There is no relative importance to any of these states except to point to the experience of deepening concentration…

This is a talk on Jhana meditation practiced within the context of The Four Noble Truths. The Buddha taught Jhana meditation as one factor of the Eightfold Path. Jhana is primarily used to develop the profond concentration necessary to develop understanding of The Four Noble Truths…

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Sources

My Dhamma articles and talks are based on the Buddha's teachings (suttas) as preserved in the Sutta Pitaka, the second book of the Pali Canon. I have relied primarily on Thanissaro Bhikkhu’s excellent and insightful translation of the Pali generously made freely available at his website Dhammatalks.org, as well as the works of Acharya Buddharakkhita, Nyanaponika Thera, John Ireland, Maurice Walsh, Hellmuth Hecker, and Sister Khema, among others, as preserved at Access To Insight.